Public Works Director Mark Acreman gave a quick construction update to the Gulf Shores City Council at its most recent meeting.

With many projects currently in development and trying to get completed before summer season, Acreman has had his hands full keeping everything on schedule.

He told the council that the first landscaped median had been completed on beach highway near W. 6th Street. He said the city wanted a sample so residents could see the city’s vision for the beach road.

“We did that to look at it to see if that was the replica we wanted to reproduce down there,” Mayor Robert Craft said. “It’s going to be a beautiful project. I think it’s really going to make a difference there.”

Councilman Gary Sinak asked if the sidewalks on Hwy. 59 would be moved in the process of lengthening the turn lane into Waterville.

“There’s a couple of locations that I saw today where we’ll probably shift them just due to an elevation difference,” Acreman said. “But there’s not many. We have put the landscape strip in between the two, and when you do that it’ll look a lot different. Most of the sidewalks are staying in tact.”

Sinak followed up that answer by asking if the sidewalks which would be moved would be too close to the road because of it.

“I don’t think so,” Acreman said. “We’re going to have about a foot of separation from the back of the curb; we’re going to have two and a half feet of curbing, and then there’s another about six inches before the stripe. We’re still going to be about three feet away from the travel lane of the vehicles.”

Approved at the council meeting were:

-Public assembly permit for the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Marathon set for Saturday, May 26.

-A bid award of Couch Aggregates for various aggregate materials to be used primarily by the Public Works Department.

-A bid award of Adela Tool & Machine, Inc. to purchase a used glass metering hopper in an amount not to exceed $14,995 for use within the Public Works Department glass recycling program.

-Reappointing Nora Mandoki to the Personnel Board for a full, three-year term ending March 27, 2021.